ABSTRACT

Leadership is the art of influencing positive outcomes in a variety of organizational situations.

Human resources come from different backgrounds with their own sets of cultural norms and

respond to leadership structures according to their own previous patterns. As such different

leadership styles are more suitable than others in developing an enterprise. This work presents

the most recognized leadership kinds including their underlying assumptions and defining

characteristics in formal organization.

Keywords: Leadership, formal organizations.

INTRODUCTION

An organization that is established as a means for achieving defined objectives has been referred

to as a formal organization. Its design specifies how goals are subdivided and reflected in

subdivisions of the organization. Divisions, departments, sections, positions, jobs, and tasks

make up this work structure. Thus, the formal organization is expected to behave impersonally in

regard to relationships with clients or with its members. According to Weber's definition, entry

and subsequent advancement is by merit or seniority. Each employee receives a salary and

enjoys a degree of tenure that safeguards him from the arbitrary influence of superiors or of

powerful clients. The higher his position in the hierarchy, the greater his presumed expertise in

adjudicating problems that may arise in the course of the work carried out at lower levels of the

organization. It is this bureaucratic structure that forms the basis for the appointment of heads or

chiefs of administrative subdivisions in the organization and endows them with the authority

attached to their position.

A leader in a formal, hierarchical organization, who is appointed to a managerial position, has

the right to command and enforce obedience by virtue of the authority of his position. However,

he must possess adequate personal attributes to match his authority, because authority is only

potentially available to him. In the absence of sufficient personal competence, a manager may be

confronted by an emergent leader who can challenge his role in the organization and reduce it to

that of a figurehead. However, only authority of position has the backing of formal sanctions. It

follows that whoever wields personal influence and power can legitimize this only by gaining a

formal position in the hierarchy, with commensurate authority.

Formal leader is a member of organization who has given authority by virtue of his position to

influence other members of organization to achieve organizational goals. An informal leader has

no formal organizational authority to influence others but possesses special kills and talent to

influence and lead other members of organization. Managers, directors are formal leaders in a

typical organization. Informal leaders possess strong self-motivation, possess positive attitude,

motivates others and puts effort to drive organizational goals. Informal leaders are best

candidates for future formal leaders.

Important differentiator factor between formal and informal leader is, formal leader is officially

bind to drive members towards organizational goal and is responsible for results or outcome of

efforts at the end. Informal leader do not have such official commitment towards group’s goal or

organization goal and may not be directly responsible for final results and may not be

accountable for it. Formal leader has official responsibility towards organizational goals, has

formal job description. Informal leader might not have formal job description to lead and

motivate others and job description might be limited to certain task.

LEADERSHIP

Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist

the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task".[1] Other in-depth

definitions of leadership have also emerged.

Leading is one of principal managerial functions. Managers are suppose to be formal leaders

because they have the authority to influence their subordinates and are expected to use it. They

are officially responsible for outcome of their group. However, in an organization, not all

managers are leaders, whether they have direct reports or not. In certain cases job description

might demand strong leadership, on other hand leadership might not be major factor. However,

in today’s competitive world, most of the managerial jobs demand leadership qualities, inter

personal and inter group interaction and a manager has to manage different type of

responsibilities and roles. A leader influences other member of groups, leads group, and directs

members towards its goals. A leader influences subordinate’s level of motivation, their

performance and quality of their decisions.

A leader may succeed or many not succeed to help organization achieve its goal. Effective

leader helps organization achieve goal, an ineffective leader does not. Managers are formal

leaders and should possess strong leadership qualities to achieve organizational goals.

FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS

An organization that is established as an instrument or means for achieving defined objectives

has been referred to as a formal organization. Its design specifies how goals are subdivided and

reflected in subdivisions of the organization. Divisions, departments, sections, positions, jobs,

and tasks make up this work structure. Thus, the formal organization is expected to behave

impersonally in regard to relationships with clients or with its members. According to Weber's

definition, entry and subsequent advancement is by merit or seniority. Employees receive a

salary and enjoy a degree of tenure that safeguards them from the arbitrary influence of superiors

or of powerful clients. The higher one's position in the hierarchy, the greater one's presumed

expertise in adjudicating problems that may arise in the course of the work carried out at lower

levels of the organization. It is this bureaucratic structure that forms the basis for the appointment

of heads or chiefs of administrative subdivisions in the organization and endows them with the

authority attached to their position.[2]

In contrast to the appointed head or chief of an administrative unit, a leader emerges within the

context of the informal organization that underlies the formal structure. The informal

organization expresses the personal objectives and goals of the individual membership. Their

objectives and goals may or may not coincide with those of the formal organization. The

informal organization represents an extension of the social structures that generally characterize

human life — the spontaneous emergence of groups and organizations as ends in themselves.

In prehistoric times, humanity was preoccupied with personal security, maintenance, protection,

and survival. Now humanity spends a major portion of waking hours working for organizations.

The need to identify with a community that provides security, protection, maintenance, and a

feeling of belonging has continued unchanged from prehistoric times. This need is met by the

informal organization and its emergent, or unofficial, leaders.[2]

Leaders emerge from within the structure of the informal organization. Their personal qualities,

the demands of the situation, or a combination of these and other factors attract followers who

accept their leadership within one or several overlay structures. Instead of the authority of

position held by an appointed head or chief, the emergent leader wields influence or power.

Influence is the ability of a person to gain co-operation from others by means of persuasion or

control over rewards. Power is a stronger form of influence because it reflects a person's ability

to enforce action through the control of a means of punishment.[1]

A leader is a person who influences a group of people towards a specific result. It is not

dependent on title or formal authority. (Elevos, paraphrased from Leaders, Bennis, and

Leadership Presence. An effective leader is defined “as an individual with the capacity to

consistently succeed in a given condition and be viewed as meeting the expectations of an

organization or society." Leaders are recognized by their capacity for caring for others, clear

communication, and a commitment to persist.[3] An individual who is appointed to a managerial

position has the right to command and enforce obedience by virtue of the authority of his

position. However, she or he must possess adequate personal attributes to match this authority,

because authority is only potentially available to him/her. In the absence of sufficient personal

competence, a manager may be confronted by an emergent leader who can challenge her/his role

in the organization and reduce it to that of a figurehead. However, only authority of position has

the backing of formal sanctions. It follows that whoever wields personal influence and power can

legitimize this only by gaining a formal position in the hierarchy, with commensurate authority.

[1] Leadership can be defined as one's ability to get others to willingly follow. Every

organization needs leaders at every level.[3]

LEADERSHIP KINDS IN FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS

Transactional Leadership:

Transactional Leadership is prone towards well-developed structures with well-defined rewards

and punishment. Organizational culture is one of strict controls within which promotions are

handed out for superior performance and punishment for lack of performance or rules violation.

Assumptions:

People are motivated by reward and punishment.

Social systems work best with a clear chain of command.

When people have agreed to do a job, a part of the deal is that they cede all authority to

their manager.

The prime purpose of a subordinate is to do what their manager tells them to do.

Characteristics:

Leads by reward and punishment.

Comfortable when rules of conduct are strictly defined.

The rules are more important than the personnel.

The transactional leader [1] is given power to perform certain tasks and reward or punish for the

team's performance. It gives the opportunity to the manager to lead the group and the group

agrees to follow his lead to accomplish a predetermined goal in exchange for something else.

Power is given to the leader to evaluate, correct, and train subordinates when productivity is not

up to the desired level, and reward effectiveness when expected outcome is reached.

Idiosyncrasy Credits, first posited by Edward Hollander (1971) is one example of a concept

closely related to transactional leadership.

Transformational Leadership:

The transformational leader [1] motivates its team to be effective and efficient. Communication

is the base for goal achievement focusing the group on the final desired outcome or goal

attainment. This leader is highly visible and uses chain of command to get the job done.

Transformational leaders focus on the big picture, needing to be surrounded by people who take

care of the details. The leader is always looking for ideas that move the organization to reach the

company's vision.

Transformational Leadership is wedded to the idea that when people are properly appreciated

they will perform. Employees and volunteers have a deep desire to be a part of a winning

organization. They will perform at their optimal levels when they feel they are part of something

bigger than themselves. A transformational leader has a personality that makes people feel like

they can do anything. They inspire through words and actions not through rewards and

punishment.

Assumptions

People will follow a person who inspires them.

A person with vision and passion can achieve great things.

The way to get things done is by injecting enthusiasm and energy.

Characteristics

High energy

Passionate

Loves people

Stifled by too much structure.

Neo-emergent leadership:

The Neo-emergent leadership theory (from the Oxford school of leadership) espouses that

leadership is created through the emergence of information by the leader or other stakeholders,

not through the true actions of the leader himself. In other words, the reproduction of information

or stories form the basis of the perception of leadership by the majority. It is well known that the

great naval hero Lord Nelson often wrote his own versions of battles he was involved in, so that

when he arrived home in England he would receive a true hero's welcome. In modern society, the

press, blogs and other sources report their own views of a leader, which may be based on reality,

but may also be based on a political command, a payment, or an inherent interest of the author,

media, or leader. Therefore, it can be contended that the perception of all leaders is created and

in fact does not reflect their true leadership qualities at all.

Functional leadership:

In the functional leadership model, one conceives of leadership not as a person but rather as a set

of behaviors that help a group perform their task or reach their goal. The model says that the

leadership function meets needs in three distinct areas:

Task

Team

Individual

Fig1. Functional leadership model

These three areas are derived from John Adair's Action Centred Leadership or "three circles"

model,[1] which has been used with some success in the British military. Although it is

considered to be too much of an over simplification by many.

Leadership behaviors can be divided roughly into three types that meet needs in the above three

areas: Substantive, or behaviors directly relevant to performing the group's task, such as

proposing possible solutions or providing important information;

Procedural, or behaviors that help direct the group's discussion, such as developing

group procedure or testing the degree of agreement among members; and

Maintenance or behaviors that improve the relationships among the members, such as

encouraging silent members or facilitating open discussion.

Any member can perform these behaviors, and so any member can participate in leadership. It

was once thought that members always specialized in one type or another, but while that can

happen it is not necessarily the case.

The functional leadership model places more emphasis on how an organization is being led

rather than who has been formally assigned a leadership role. This allows the analysis to spend

less time looking at the person who has formally assigned authority and instead focus on how the

leadership function is actually taking place.

Participative Leadership:

Participative Leadership is the type of leadership that allows personnel from all levels of the

organization to be involved in the decision-making process. It believes that more participation

will lead to greater ownership in the mission of the company.

Assumptions Involvement in decision-making improves the understanding of the issues

involved by those who must carry out the decisions.

People are more committed to actions where they have involved in the relevant decision-making.

People are less competitive and more collaborative when they are working on joint goals.

When people make decisions together, the social commitment to one another is greater and thus

increases their commitment to the decision.

Several people deciding together make better decisions than one person alone.

Situational Leadership:

Organizations are as dynamic as the climate within which they participate and the human

personnel which fills its positions. As such, decision-making takes on many shapes and sizes.

Accordingly, leadership cannot be limited to one style. Different situations call for different

types of solutions. Situational Leadership is about finding the best solution to a given problem.

Assumptions

The best action of the leader depends on a range of situational factors.

Characteristics

The Situational Leader is very versatile.

He can wear many hats and is keen to a wide variety of solutions.

Charismatic Leadership:

Charismatic Leadership moves an organization by its can-do personality. Human personnel is

moved to perform by the charismatic leaders ability to persuade through kind words or powerful

argument. This type of leadership often depletes human capital of self-motivation. Such

charsmatic stimulation can be transformational but not always.

Assumptions Charm and grace are all that is needed to create followers.

Self-belief is a fundamental need of leaders.

People follow others that they personally admire.

Characteristics

Big personalities

Love the limelight

Are the focal point of the organization.

Often leaves a large void when they depart

Emotions

Leadership can be perceived as a particularly emotion-laden process, with emotions entwined

with the social influence process.[1] In an organization, the leader's mood has some effects

on his/her group. These effects can be described in three levels:[1]

The mood of individual group members. Group members with leaders in a positive mood

experience more positive mood than do group members with leaders in a negative mood. The

leaders transmit their moods to other group members through the mechanism of emotional

contagion.[2] Mood contagion may be one of the psychological mechanisms by which

charismatic leaders influence followers.[2]

The affective tone of the group. Group affective tone represents the consistent or

homogeneous affective reactions within a group. Group affective tone is an aggregate of the

moods of the individual members of the group and refers to mood at the group level of

analysis. Groups with leaders in a positive mood have a more positive affective tone than do

groups with leaders in a negative mood.[2]

Group processes like coordination, effort expenditure, and task strategy. Public

expressions of mood impact how group members think and act. When people experience and

express mood, they send signals to others. Leaders signal their goals, intentions, and attitudes

through their expressions of moods. For example, expressions of positive moods by leaders

signal that leaders deem progress toward goals to be good. The group members respond to

those signals cognitively and behaviorally in ways that are reflected in the group processes.

[2]

Beyond the leader's mood, her/his behavior is a source for employee positive and negative

emotions at work. The leader creates situations and events that lead to emotional response.

Certain leader behaviors displayed during interactions with their employees are the sources

of these affective events. Leaders shape workplace affective events. Examples – feedback

giving, allocating tasks, resource distribution. Since employee behavior and productivity are

directly affected by their emotional states, it is imperative to consider employee emotional

responses to organizational leaders.[3] Emotional intelligence, the ability to understand and

manage moods and emotions in the self and others, contributes to effective leadership within

organizations.[2]

CONCLUSION

Leadership is the art of influencing positive outcomes in a variety of organizational situations.

Human resources come from different backgrounds with their own sets of cultural norms and

respond to leadership structures according to their own previous patterns. As such different

leadership styles are more suitable than others in developing an enterprise. This work

presensented the most recognized leadership styles including their underlying assumptions and

defining characteristics.

REFERENCES

[1] Chemers M. (1997) An integrative theory of leadership. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,

Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8058-2679-1 Locke et al. 1991 (Richards & Engle, 1986, p.206)

http://qualities-of-a-leader.com/trait-approach/

[2] Bird, C. (1940). Social Psychology. New York: Appleton-Century.

[3] Blake, R.; Mouton, J. (1964). The Managerial Grid: The Key to Leadership Excellence.

Houston: Gulf Publishing Co..

[4] Carlyle, Thomas (1841). On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic History. Boston, MA:

Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 1-4069-4419-X.